Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip to South Dakota (2023)--Days 8 & 9
9/17/2023
Time To Go Home!
Man, I used to hate having to return home after a trip. In past trips it was primarily because it meant going back to work. But now? Nope! I get to go back to retirement life. 
It all started, as usual, at 5:30 and me patiently waiting, coffee in hand, for the breakfast area to open. Today's breakfast selections were good as we've grown accustomed to at the Best Western Plus. We're slightly sad the trip is coming to an end, but we're ready to retrieve the dogs and get back to normal life. I had wanted to delay our departure until 9:00 because check-in at the Americinn in Sioux Falls isn't until 3 p.m. However, I got tired of just sitting around in the room so we brought our bags out to the car, checked out and hit the road just after 8:30.
The drive across I-90 from Rapid City to Sioux Falls is one of the easiest drives you'll find. The 80 mph speed limit really made those miles fly by, despite the constant construction zones requiring slowing down to 65.
I had assumed we had more than enough gas to make it to Sioux Falls since I filled the tank in Rapid City, and we may have made it, but the low fuel warning message started flashing about 25 miles west of Sioux Falls. The gas gauge was sitting on empty. From experience, I know that "empty" doesn't mean exactly that. It just means you're getting close. I have a similar light on my Corolla which comes on when my tank is 30-40 miles from being truly empty. But I didn't like the prospect of actually running out of gas on a freeway, especially in this area where we were in the midst of about a ten mile stretch of one lane going in each direction due to yet another stretch of construction. So at the next available exit (which seemed forever to get to!) we filled up, being only 10-15 miles from our exit onto I-29 in Sioux Falls.
We had planned on dining at T.C. Referee in Sioux Falls, just five miles away from our hotel but the PGA Golf Tournament was taking place in Sioux Falls that weekend. They were anticipating up to 80,000 people being in town, so we played it safe and went to Dairy Queen, breaking our vow that we wouldn't dine anywhere during this trip which has a Duluth location. Oh, well.
On Sunday, we were up early as usual, facing less than adequate breakfast selections. I had initially wanted to leave at 8:00 which would have given us plenty of time to get home and pick up Kimo and Kona during the daily pick up time at Lewis Lane Kennels. But with everything packed up so soon, again, it was a case of not wanting to sit around twiddling our thumbs, and so we were on the road at 6:40 a.m.
The problem with leaving just before sunrise was that, as we headed east on I-90, I soon found myself driving directly into the sunrise. Not fun! This was a pain in the ass but soon ended when we got to Worthington, exited the freeway and turned north on MN 60. From there it was smooth sailing. The Twin Cities Road Race was minimized due to it being Sunday morning. A quick stop for gas and a lunch at Culver's in Forest Lake, a bathroom break here and there and we were back in Duluth at 1:30. The dogs were so happy to see us when we retrieved them from Lewis Lane Kennels!
Was this trip worth it? Hell yes! We saw amazing sights and I can't speak highly enough of the area around Rapid City, from the Badlands National Park west to Devils Tower National Monument. As it turned out, five full days wasn't enough to see and do everything we wanted, so now we have a reason to return!
Previous: 9/15/2023--Our Trip To South Dakota (2023)--Day 7
Index of Blog Pages
last updated september 25, 2023
|